New Office/Yoga Room

Last week I bought all new office furniture and completely revamped the "office," which I also use for yoga/pilates, and has 3 bookshelves. It is a lot to put in one room and with a lot of help from James it is so much more functional.

The room is essentially split in half. On one side is my office...

The whole setup.

My computer geek of a husband commandeered me a second monitor and although at first I thought it was unnecessary, I am really finding it handy.

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.

And on the other side is the TV for workout videos and plenty of room for yoga and pilates.

Part of the reason the room seems so much bigger was James' idea to use the closet for the bookshelves. It wasn't being used for anything other than storage. So with a bit of organizing the room is now large enough for an office and exercise.

Now I have no excuse not to get my work done, or exercise...except for all the other excuses.

Cold Air

Yippee!!!! The A/C is fixed. I am so glad to have contacts because of my work. Our A/C subcontractor was able to come and take care of it. He is someone I have worked with for years and he gave me a good deal; other wise it would have cost double what it did.

When he came yesterday he discovered that the inside unit was a 3 ton and the outside unit was a 2 ton. The previous owners jerry-rigged or cut corners on so many things in this house and the A/C was no exception. Basically the unit we had was meant for a smaller house, wasn't big enough to cool our house and kept freezing up as it tried. So, he just left, and already the house is cooling down. Which is a good thing considering it is 99 degrees outside.

Broken A/C

Our air conditioner is kind of on the fritz. Luckily it still works part of the time. Even luckier, it has rained the last two days and today is cooled down considerably.

Unfortunately, the one day that it was 100 degrees outside was the day it wasn't working.

Poor little Max was a bit miserable. He takes too much after his mom (who would love to live in Washington) rather than his dad (who is a total desert rat.) Not that he is a rat...just that he loves the heat.

Rather than spending all day bumming around in the slightly cooler basement we decided to to put together the new furniture for my office. I am pretty excited about it! It is so much more functional. Unfortunately, it doesn't actually do the work for me...I still have to find time to do it.

Shots & Solids

Max Stats: Weight: 13 lbs, 12 oz. Height: 25 3/4

Shots: Today Max had his first shots. And can anyone tell me whose cruel idea it was to make the mom hold them while they are being tortured??? He was looking up at me, holding onto my fingers, smiling. Then the look on his face...I cried. He cried. We cried.

Home safe with Dad. (He loves this positions.)

Solids: I tried some rice cereal for the first time today. (Not sure you can really call it solid.) Max loved it!

"What am I supposed to do with this Mom?"

"More Mom More."

"Humming"

"Mom, this is taking too long."

On a food note...the pediatrician told me that it is a fallacy that if you give infants foods before a certain age they will become allergic to them. He said that we could actually give Max anything to try. Crushed, pureed, etc. But anything. Apparently there is a window of time between four and six months that they are especially able to try anything. I didn't think that he meant to start off with something like Indian food, but James said to go for it. I gave him the tiniest taste of our Saag Aloo and he actually seemed to enjoy it. Of course, that is not surprising considering the amount of Indian food I ate while pregnant with him.

*Notes: Hib & PCV shots, not sure which shot went into which leg. Reactions: Cranky, cried for quite a while before going to sleep, just lasted the one day. No bruising around shot area.

Immunizations

Max is going in for his 4 month wellness checkup and will be getting his first vaccine shots today. Dr. Sears book has been great to ease my concerns about immunizations. There is an alternate schedule which spreads out the shots so fewer are given at once. The schedule also puts the most important first and pushes off others until later. I thought I should clarify something that my pediatrician said. In a previous post I mentioned that he said some were OK to not have, but that he really wanted us to get the others. The two he was referring to were the HepB and Polio. Basically if the Mom doesn't have them then they aren't necessary at birth. However, he still recommends that they be given, just at a later time.

The schedule pushes both both of those into later years. Because there is so much talk about vaccines being related to Autism I have really been scared to do this. I know that so many kids have it done and don't have problems, but I would hate to be the one in whatever number it is whose child is affected. So I plan to have the vaccines on the alternate schedule. It means more office visits and more co-pays but for me is a small price to pay. Also, the book gives advice on things moms can do to help boost the immune system, such as Vitamin A & C before and after the shots. So, I feel like I can do something proactive and preventative to insure that Max is vaccinated without side effects.


I highly recommend the book to anyone who has concerns about or just wants more information about vaccines.

4 Months Old

Daddy Moment. I heard giggling coming from Max's room. Feeling like I was missing out on something I asked James what was going on. He said, "We are playing take off the onesie...and I'm losing."

Thoughts on a Sunday

During Sacrament meeting, (while I was reading the Ensign instead of listening to the High Councilman) I came across the talk "Daughters of God" by Elder M. Russell Ballard. I enjoyed it so much and it was very fitting for my current situation.

He speaks about the respect and gratitude he feels for mothers and asked and answered four questions that would help us to "be happy and successful in your families and to have the validations and support you need and deserve."

Question 1: What can a mother do to reduce the pressure and enjoy her family more?

A1: Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. We don't want to look back and say that we didn't live in the moment enough or that we wish we had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing.
*This is a big for me. As the mom, the wife, the cook, the maid, and the office manager I am rarely ever just "in the moment." I am constantly thinking of the next three things that I "should" be doing.

A2: Don't over schedule yourselves or your children.
*Since I don't have Max scheduled for sports or music yet this is just a problem for me. Referring to the many things going on above I struggle just to find time to shower.

A3: Find some time for yourself to cultivate your gifts and interests. Water cannot be drawn from an empty well and if you are not setting aside a little time for what replenishs you, you will have less and less to give others, even to your children.
* The things I like to do always get pushed to the background.

A4: Pray, study and teach the gospel. Pray deeply about your children and about your role as a mother.
*I am failing miserably at the first. But praying like I have never prayed before.

I had a bit of a breakdown and was thinking of all the things that I was trying to do and blaming my husband for not "helping enough." Really I just can't seem to stay on top of everything and I don't ask for help. We had a great talk and he didn't get defensive (he never gets defensive). Instead he helped me come up with some ways that I and we could make better use of our time, to get to bed earlier and for me to ask for help.

Question 2: What more can a husband do to support his wife, the mother of his children?
A1: Show extra appreciation and give more validation for what your wife does every day. Notice things and say thank you-often.

A2: Have a regular time to talk with your wife about the child's needs and what he can do to help.

A3: Give your wife a "day away." Just take over the household and give her a break from her daily responsibilities.

A4: Come home from work and take an active role with your family.

*Only after picking on him did I realize how good he is at everything on the list. He tells me what a good job I am doing as a mom. We walk nearly every night and talk about everything but especially Max. He comes home from work and takes Max so I can "go to work." And this he does with so much excitement...it is their boy bonding time. And he has a great understanding and appreciation of what it takes to run a house. The laundry, changing, feeding, washing bottles, doing dishes, cooking meals, etc. that at the end of the day you wonder what, if anything you actually accomplished.

I love my son. I love my husband. I love our life together. Everything else is just me trying to keep us all fed, clean and clothed, stay on top of work and hopefully remember what things are most important.